今日家庭馬匹備忘單

馬不能坐在你腿上；另一方面，你不能對小貓狂奔。像任何動物一樣，馬需要日常護理和定期梳理。如果您要購買一匹馬，您需要知道要問的正確問題，如果您擁有一匹馬，您需要能夠識別您的馬何時遇到健康緊急情況。馬是一個很大的責任，但他們值得！

©作者：Anastasija Popova/Shutterstock.com

購買馬匹時要問的問題

買馬是件大事。這是一個值得併且需要一些思考和準備的過程。當您開始騎馬冒險時，請向賣家提出以下問題：

• 你要馬多少錢？這個價格可以商量嗎？

• 這匹馬多大了？

• 馬有多大？（幾隻手？）

• 馬的性別和大小是多少？

• 騎馬屬於哪個學科？

• 馬有沒有受過專業訓練？

• 這匹馬適合初學者嗎？

• 這匹馬適合孩子嗎（如果你有孩子會騎馬）？

• 馬是否裝入拖車？

• 馬有沒有嗑嗑（一邊吸空氣一邊咬柵欄）、編織（從前腿到前腿反復來回移動）、被拴時向後拉等不良習慣？

• 這匹馬是否有任何醫療問題或有過諸如絞痛、跛足或過敏等醫療問題的病史？

• 為什麼要賣馬？

每日照料馬任務

照顧馬是一項重大責任，您必須每天照顧您的馬友。以下列表描述了您每天需要為您的馬完成的任務：

• 餵你的馬兩到三遍
• 檢查你的馬的供水
• 檢查您的馬是否有任何健康問題的跡象
• 鍛煉你的馬
• 清理你的馬厩一兩次
• 修飾你的馬並清潔他的蹄子

馬匹美容用品和工具

保持您的馬干淨和好看是擁有馬匹的重要組成部分，此外，它可以很有趣！以下是您需要方便的美容工具列表：

• 橡膠咖哩

• 硬毛刷

• 軟刷

• 脫落刀片

• 布

• 鬃毛和尾巴刷

• 鬃毛和尾巴梳理器

• 蹄鎬

• 蹄刷

• 沐浴用品（如洗髮水、護髮素和海綿）

• 剪子

如何應對馬匹緊急情況

您的馬和您和其他所有動物一樣，容易出現健康問題。下表中症狀列中的問題值得立即關注並致電獸醫。

Understanding a Horse’s Senses

To see things from the horse’s perspective, you need to know — literally — how the horse takes in the world. Humans evolved to be hunters and gatherers, chasing down prey and finding appropriate plants to eat. Horses, on the other hand, are built to avoid hunters and eat nearly everything that grows around them. Given these fundamental distinctions, the horse’s senses are bound to have nuances that are somewhat different from those of a human.

Sight

Sight is the most important equine sense. For a prey animal like the horse, in the wild, good eyesight means the difference between life and death. Literally seeing trouble coming is the best way the horse has to make it to safety before a predator gets too close.

Because horses have long, narrow heads with eyes on either side, they have the ability to take in more of the view than humans do. When their heads are facing forward, horses have a nearly 180-degree field of vision. They can see in front of and almost all the way around their bodies, though they do have some blind spots.

One of a horse’s blind spots is directly behind, so you should never approach a horse from the back unless the horse already knows you’re there.

No one knows for sure how far horses can see, mainly because horses have trouble pronouncing the letters on eye tests. Scientists who have done experiments in this field have made some educated guesses that horses can see pretty darn far, in the realm of at least hundreds of yards away. Horses can distinguish patterns, which means they’re able to take in fine details. They can also perceive depth well.

Horses also have much better night vision than humans. Many a rider has been out on a dark, moonless trail, dumbfounded by his or her horses’ ability to see where the pair are going despite the incredibly dim light.

Scientists know far less about horses’ color vision than they do about other areas of equine sight, but they’re certain that horses see many of the same colors that we see, with two exceptions: red and green. In fact, they believe that horses have the same color vision as humans who suffer from red-green color blindness. That said, horses are still able to pick out the greenest grass in a field!

Hearing

A species that survives by getting a head start on marauding predators needs a pretty good sense of hearing. The fact that horses have survived all the way to modern times is testimony to their incredible hearing, which is considerably better than a human’s.

If you look at the shape of the horse’s ear, you can see that it’s built sort of like a funnel. With this design, the ear can capture sound in its outer part and channel it down into the ear canal. The broad outer part of the horse’s ear very adequately takes in the slightest sound in the horse’s environment.

Using very mobile ears, horses constantly monitor the world around them. Just imagine trying to pay complete attention to different sounds coming in to either ear at the same time. Impossible for a human, yet the horse does this on a steady basis. A horse can take in the sounds of a car driving by, children playing, a bird chirping and a human approaching, all at once, from different places in the environment. The horse then processes that information and makes split second decisions about whether to react — all while picking out the best blades of pasture grass or meandering down a rocky trail. The process really is mind-blowing.

Loud, unfamiliar noises can send a relaxed horse into a tizzy. On the other hand, a placid, reassuring sound can ease a horse’s worries. It’s amazing to see how a frightened horse can be comforted by a soft, gentle voice from a calm and confident human. Keep this fact in mind when handling your horse in a particularly noisy or frightening environment.

Smell

Like most non-human animals, horses have an acute sense of smell that they regularly employ to provide them with information on what is going on around them. Horses use their sense of smell in a number of different and important ways.

Nature equipped the equine with a strong olfactory sense that can tell the animal whether a predator is near. All it takes is a strong upwind breeze to bring a dangerous scent to the attention of a wild herd. After getting a whiff of the predator, the herd literally high-tails it (their tails stick way up in the air as they flee) out of there in a flash.

Horses also use smell as part of their complicated social structure. Horses typically greet each other nose to nose, each taking in the odor of the other. Horses also come to recognize each other by scent as well as by sight. Mares and foals quickly memorize each other’s scents and use this information to help locate each other in a crowd of horses.

Most horses also greet humans in the same way. When you introduce yourself to a horse for the first time, notice how the horse reaches out his muzzle to sniff you. Given this, the most polite way to approach a horse is with the back of your hand extended so the horse may take in your personal scent. Letting a horse breathe in your scent tells the animal that you are a fellow herdmate (not a predator), and usually makes the horse more agreeable to being handled.

Touch

The equine sense of touch is an important (although often overlooked) element to the horse. Although many people think that horses have a tough hide, they really don’t. Their skin is tougher than our human epidermis, but it is still rich with nerve endings.

If you sit on a pasture fence and watch a herd of horses for a few hours, you’ll see plenty of evidence of how horses use touch to communicate with each other. Mothers reassure their babies with a brush of the muzzle; comrades scratch each other’s itches with their teeth. Whenever a message needs to be sent from one horse to another, visual cues and touch — or the threat of it — are nearly always used.

Humans can also use touch to convey messages to the horse. A gentle rub down, a pat on the shoulder, a vigorous massage in just the right place — these are all ways of saying, “I’m your friend” to a horse. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you’ll get a similar tactile message in return.

Equine Resources

Check out the following resources as your appetite for equine (horse) knowledge increases.

Breed registries

Appaloosa Horse Club
2720 W. Pullman Rd.
Moscow, ID 83843-0903
(208) 882-5578
www.appaloosa.com

International Colored Appaloosa Association
4610 New Mexico 206
Milnesand, NM 88125

(547) 238-4280
www.icaainc.com

Arabian Horse Association
10805 E. Bethany Dr.
Aurora, CO 80014
(303) 696-4500
www.arabianhorses.org

American Miniature Horse Association
5601 South IH 35W
Alvarado, TX 76009
(817) 783-5600
www.amha.com

American Morgan Horse Association
4066 Shelburne Rd., Suite 5
Shelburne, VT 05482-0960
(802) 985-4944
www.morganhorse.com

American Paint Horse Association
P.O. Box 961023
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0023
(817) 834-2742
www.apha.com

American Quarter Horse Association
1600 Quarter Horse Dr.
Amarillo, TX 79104
(806) 376-4811
www.aqha.com

Racking Horse Breeders Association of America
67 Horse Center Rd., Suite B
Decatur, AL 35603-9735
(256) 353-7225
www.rackinghorse.com

American Saddlebred Horse Association
4083 Iron Works Pkwy.
Lexington, KY 40511-8434
(859) 259-2742
www.saddlebred.com

United States Trotting Association (Standardbreds)
6130 S. Sunbury Rd.
Westerville, OH 43081-9309
(877) 800-8782
www.ustrotting.com

Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ & Exhibitors’ Association
P. O. Box 286
Lewisburg, TN 37091-0286
(931) 359-1574
www.twhbea.com

The Jockey Club (Thoroughbreds)
821 Corporate Dr.
Lexington, KY 40503-2794
(859) 224-2700
www.jockeyclub.com

Educational organizations

American Horse CouncilDocument1
1616 H Street NW, 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 296-4031
www.horsecouncil.org

CHA (Certified Horsemanship Association)
1795 Alysheba Way, Suite 7102
Lexington, KY 40509
(859) 259-3399
www.cha-ahse.org

United States Pony Clubs, Inc.
4041 Iron Works Pkwy.
Lexington, KY 40511-8462
(859) 254-7669
www.ponyclub.org

Equine rescue groups

American Standardbred Adoption Program
745 S Main St.
Viroqua, WI 54665
(608) 689-2399
www.4thehorses.com

Standardbred Retirement Foundation
42 Arneytown-Hornerstown Rd.
Cream Ridge, NJ 08514
(609) 738-3255
www.adoptahorse.org

The Horse Protection League
P. O. Box 741089
Arvada, CO 80006
(303) 216-0141
thehorseprotectionleague.org

Equine equipment

Dover Saddlery, Inc.
525 Great Rd.
Littleton, MA 01460
(800) 406-8204
www.doversaddlery.com

Jeffers Equine
P.O. Box 100
Dothan, AL 36302
(800) 533-3377
www.jeffersequine.com

Logan Coach Trailers
2990 S. 800 W.
Nibley, UT 84321
(800) 742-7047

www.logancoach.com

MD Barns
720 E. Locust Street
Ontario, CA 91761
(800) 343-2276
www.mdbarnmaster.com

Morton Buildings, Inc.
P.O. Box 399
Morton, IL 61550-0399
(800) 447-7436
www.mortonbuildings.com

State Line Tack
395 Oak Hill Rd., Suite 210
Mountain Top, PA 18707
(888) 839-9640
www.statelinetack.com

Sundowner Trailers, Inc.
9805 OK Hwy, 48 South
Coleman, OK 73432-8523
(800) 438-4294
www.sundownertrailer.com

Equine slaughter information

American Association of Equine Practitioners
4033 Iron Works Pkwy.
Lexington, KY 40511
(859) 233-0147
www.aaep.org

Equine Advocates, Inc.
P.O. Box 354
Chatham, NY 12037-0354
(518) 245-1599
www.equineadvocates.org

Equine Protection Network, Inc.
P.O. Box 232
Friedensburg, PA 17933
www.saveamericashorses.net

Humane Society of the United States
1255 23rd Street NW, Suite 450
Washington, DC 20037
(866) 720-2676
www.humanesociety.org

Equine retirement facilities

Apple River Ranch Equine Retirement
415 Jackson St., Box 358
Hanover, IL 61041
(815) 591-3819
appleriver1.tripod.com

The P.E.I. Equine Retirement Society
Milburn, O’Leary RR#2
Prince Edward Island, C0B-1V0
Canada
(902) 859-3116
www.angelfire.com/ca/equineretirementsoc/

Heavenly Horse Haven
P.O. Box 391998
Anza, CA 92539-1998
(951) 551-3561
www.heavenlyhorsehaven.org

Pet loss hotlines

ASPCA Grief Counseling Hotline

(877) 474-3310

Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine (Massachusetts)
(508) 839-7966

Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
(540) 231-8038

Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine
(517) 432-2696

Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine
(866) 266-8635

Activity organizations

American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC)
P.O. Box 6027
Auburn, CA 95604
(866) 271-2372
www.aerc.org

Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association
P.O. Box 157
Roswell, NM 88202
(888) 960-0003
www.cowboymountedshooting.com

National Reined Cow Horse Association
1017 N. Hwy. 377
Pilot Point, TX 76258
(940) 488-1500
www.nrcha.com

North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC)
P.O. Box 969
Beatrice, NE 68310
(303) 688-1677
www.natrc.org

Ride & Tie Association
P.O. Box 2750
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
www.rideandtie.org

United States Dressage Federation
4051 Iron Works Parkway
Lexington, KY 40511
(859) 971-2277
http://usdf.org

United States Equestrian Federation
4047 Iron Works Parkway
Lexington, KY 40511
(859) 258-2472

http://usef.org

Western Dressage Association of America
P.O. Box 2349
Parker, CO 80134
(720) 662-4584
www.westerndressageassociation.org

Other equine organizations

American Farriers Association
4059 Iron Works Pkwy., Suite 1
Lexington, KY 40511-8434
(859) 233-7411
www.americanfarriers.org

American Riding Instructors Association
28801 Trenton Ct.
Bonita Springs, FL 34134-3337
(239) 948-3232
www.riding-instructor.com

The Equine Connection National AAEP Locator Service (Horse vets)
https://aaep.org/horse-owners/get-dvm

North American Riding for the Handicapped
P.O. Box 33150
Denver, CO 80233
(800) 369-RIDE (800-369-7433)
www.narha.org

Horse information Websites

HorseIllustrated.com
www.horseillustrated.com

InfoHorse.com
www.infohorse.com

The International Museum of the Horse
www.imh.org

TheHorse.com
www.thehorse.com

Horse publications

Equus
(800) 829-5910
www.equusmagazine.com

Horse & Rider
(877) 717-8928
www.horseandrider.com

馬畫報
(844) 330-6373
www.horseillustrated.com

實用騎士
(877) 717-8929
www.practicalhorsemanmag.com

西部騎士
(817) 737-6397
www.westernhorseman.com

Young Rider
(844) 330-6373
www.youngrider.com

推薦閱讀

以下書籍可以幫助您更多地了解馬匹護理和馬術的不同方面，或者通過讓您保持體形來幫助您成為更好的騎手。

• Bryant, Jennifer O.，USDF 盛裝舞步指南， Storey Publishing，2005 年。
• Dennis, Dianna Robin, The Rider's Fitness Program, Storey Publishing, 2004
• 佩恩、拉里，《今日家庭瑜伽》，威利，2014 年。
• Hendricks, Bonnie L.，國際馬種百科全書，俄克拉荷馬大學出版社，
• Herman, Ellie，《今日普拉提》， Wiley，2002 年。
• 帕維亞，奧黛麗，今天為一家人騎馬，威利，2020 年。
• Pavia, Audrey,今日馬匹健康與營養, Wiley, 2008
• Pavia, Audrey, Trail Riding: A Complete Guide, Wiley, 2005。
• Kauffmann, Susan & Cline, Christina, The Essential Hoof Book , Trafalgar Square Books, 2017
• 斯威夫特，莎莉，中心騎行，特拉法加廣場，1985 年。